Harry Maguire scored a stunning added-time winner as Leicester City picked up their first away win of the season at Southampton.

City had come from behind through a Demarai Gray equaliser after Ryan Bertrand had fired the hosts into the lead, and City capitalised on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s red card to clinch back-to-back victories.

City had lacked the clinical edge in front of goal until Maguire stepped forward and struck a low shot from nearly 30 yards out which seemed to evade everyone and flash past keeper Alex McCarthy to send the City supporters into rapture.

After the victory last week against Wolverhampton Wanderers, a result that looked even more impressive after Wolves held champions Manchester City earlier in the day, Claude Puel was expected to make just one change to his starting line-up with main striker Jamie Vardy suspended.

Kelechi Iheanacho came in for Vardy, but Puel made two more unexpected changes as he reverted to the back four that started the season at Manchester United, with skipper Wes Morgan replacing Jonny Evans and Daniel Amartey returning at right-back, with Ricardo Pereira pushed further forward at the expense of Marc Albrighton.

They had failed to score in four of their last six top-flight home fixtures and Mark Hughes had won only two of his 10 Premier League games as Southampton manager.

Puel had enjoyed a winning return to St Mary’s Stadium last season when City produced their best display of the campaign to win 4-1, and Puel had not lost in the four games he had taken charge of in this fixture, winning once with both Saints and City, and two draws.

Saints boss Mark Hughes had called for a fast start from his side and he got it as they were out of the blocks quicker than City, with Nathan Redmond eager to test Amartey, and he did cause the City full-back plenty of problems early on, but City were able to scramble the ball clear on a number of occasions.

The corner count was also high for the hosts as they tried to exploit the height advantage they possessed against City’s much smaller but agile line-up, but in the youthful trifecta of Maddison, Chilwell and Gray were a threat on the break, without finding the quality with the final pass required.

Chilwell was City’s best attacking threat and he produced some dangerous low crosses which almost presented chances for Gray and Iheanacho, while Ndidi also planted a Maddison corner wide.

Kasper Schmeichel remained the busier keeper and he had to be alert on a number of occasions to punch threatening crosses clear, while he produced a good save just before half-time to deny Danny Ings the best opportunity of the game.

Schmeichel had to be alert to repeat the feat to deny Ings one more time three minutes into the second period as again the hosts started faster than City.

They finally broke the deadlock eight minutes into the second half and while it was a great finish from Bertrand, it was a poor goal to concede from a City point of view.

City had received a warning in the build-up when centre-back Jannik Vestergaard was allowed to storm forward and commit City’s back four. City failed to clear their lines and a minute later Pierre-Emimle Hojbjerg was freed down the left and his low cross evaded everyone falling to full-back Bertrand to smash into the top corner.

City needed a quick response and it was Gray who obliged in the 56th minute. This time it was the Saints who failed to clear Iheanacho’s cross and Gray capitalised with a slow strike past Alex McCarthy.

City slowly started to gain some level of control in the game, with the front four, which was changed slightly when Marc Albrighton replaced Iheanacho, with Gray moving into the number nine position, causing problems with their movement against the more heavily-built Saints rearguard.

City’s cause was helped when referee Jonathan Moss showed a second yellow card to Hojbjerg for a dive following a challenge by Amartey in the area, which must have had the City defender’s heart in his mouth having given away a penalty at Old Trafford on the opening day. This time the decision went his way, and justifiably so.

Chilwell, storming forward from the back, forced a good save from McCarthy as City smelt blood, while the Saints were still feeling aggrieved.

Then, the killer blow was delivered, and it came from an unlikely source. Maguire picked up the ball 30 yards out and drilled a low effort which flashed past McCarthy and inside his near post, to the amazement of nearly everyone in the ground.